Samsung Galaxy S23's next big One UI update enters beta testing

Samsung has been beta testing One UI 8.5 for a few months now. Despite releasing the stable build with the Galaxy S26 series in early March, it has seeded new beta builds for the Galaxy S25 and further expanded the program to the Z Fold 7, Flip 7, and S24 series. Now, instead of rolling out the stable build, Samsung is continuing its beta testing and expanding the program to include the Galaxy S23 and select mid-range devices.

The first One UI 8.5 beta for the Galaxy S23 is currently live in India and South Korea. The public beta program should soon also expand to other countries, which are typically part of Samsung's first wave of beta releases: the UK, the US, and select European countries.

The ZD5 firmware is a hefty 4.16GB download and packs the April 2026 security patch. You can grab the update by enrolling into the program through the Samsung Members app and then checking for an OTA update on your phone.

Alongside the Galaxy S23 series, Samsung has also extended the One UI 8.5 beta program to the Galaxy A36 in India. Like Samsung's 2023 flagship, the A36's 2.5GB ZD2 firmware contains the April 2026 security patch.

Based on Samsung's past track record, the Galaxy A56 should soon join the beta bandwagon as well.

Samsung rolls out fresh One UI 8.5 betas to more Galaxy devices

Galaxy devices already in the One UI 8.5 beta program are also receiving new builds. The Galaxy S25 is getting its ninth beta across all supported regions, while the Galaxy S24 and S25 FE are receiving their second beta in Korea.

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The Galaxy Z Fold 7, Flip 7, and other Galaxy devices in the One UI 8.5 beta program should receive new beta builds soon as well.

All this indicates that Samsung is gearing up to push One UI 8.5 to the public sooner rather than later. A leak from earlier this week indicates the Galaxy S25's stable One UI 8.5 firmware won't arrive until the end of this month.